Fascinating Fontenay Facts
Written up by Bud and Dorothy Kulp when they moved in the Fall of 1997. Thanks also to Mary and Hap Hasty for the details regarding the Shaw/Woods period. Kindly shared by Betty Griffith.
About the family who developed Fontenay in 1976
Stanley (Bud) and Dorothy Mel Kulp, who purchased the property in December 1972 have a family connection to Fontenay that dates back to 1979. In that year, Dorothy’s great uncle, George Mel acquired the 250-acre property known as “Vine Hill” or “De Fontenay Vineyards”. The prior owner, George Jarvis, developed the original vineyard but fell upon hard times and lost “Vine Hill” to the Odd Fellows Savings Bank.
The Fontenay names traces back to Dorothy’s great grandfather John Mel de Fontenay who traveled from Francin in 1857 and settled in San Francisco. Dorothy’s father Charles Mel was born on the property in 1884. Ownership of the property transferred…